(ONALASKA, WA) Residents in the Onalaska area will soon have access to broadband
internet service. It’s part of a stimulus-funded project. TDS
Telecommunications says the project is part of its American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act project to expand broadband internet service in rural
areas. The service is now available to some residents west of
Onalaska. Nearly 10 miles of fiber optics cable is being installed and
six cabinets which protect the network electronics are being placed
throughout their McDaniel Telephone Company service area. TDS says when
the project is completed in the spring the project should wrap up this
spring nearly 600 residents around Onalaska and Salkum will have access
to a high-speed internet connection.

Monday, January 27, 2014

Public Power Council Statement
on Appointment of Elliot Mainzer as Administrator of BPA

(PORTLAND, OR) -- The Public Power Council (PPC) commented
today on the appointment of the Administrator of the Bonneville Power
Administration (BPA).

“Elliot has the skills to lead BPA into the future,” said
Scott Corwin, Executive Director of the Public Power Council, which represents
consumer-owned electric utilities and their ratepayers across the region who
rely on the transmission and clean hydropower marketed by BPA.

“It is helpful to see BPA moving toward stability,” noted
Corwin. “This is a useful step, and
Elliot will have a good team working with him.”

“PPC looks forward to continuing to work well with him in
his new capacity on the many challenges facing our industry,” Corwin said.

The Bonneville Power Administration is a critical part of
the region’s economic base, providing power and transmission from the Federal
Columbia River Power System throughout the Northwest.

PPC represents Pacific Northwest consumer-owned utilities on
issues related to the Federal Columbia River Power System.

Mainzer first joined BPA in 2002, currently serves as Acting
Administrator

(WASHINGTON, DC) -- Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA)
applauded the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) decision to name Elliot Mainzer
Administrator of the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA). Mainzer, who currently serves as Acting
Administrator, first joined BPA in 2002 and has served in several previous
management positions, including Deputy Administrator.

“Now, more than ever, BPA needs strong leadership, and I’m
pleased that Elliot Mainzer has been promoted to serve as Administrator of this
critical agency,” said Senator Murray. “Like everyone, I’ve been extremely
concerned by findings of illegal hiring practices at BPA, but I’m confident
that Elliot has the ability to correct those issues and continue working
closely with DOE while protecting BPA’s unique authority to provide reliable,
low-cost power for the Northwest.”

Friday, January 17, 2014

NOAA Fisheries submits to the
Court that protective measures are getting the job done for the region’s iconic
fish

(PORTLAND,
OR) -- After more than two years of additional work and analysis to strengthen
their case, NOAA Fisheries has reaffirmed that measures in the federal salmon
plan are working to protect and restore salmon populations in the Columbia
Basin. The plan – called the Biological Opinion (BiOp) – is without a doubt the
most comprehensive and expensive plan to protect an endangered species in the nation,
and likely the world. Today NOAA Fisheries, the agency in charge of salmon
protection, submitted the BiOp to U.S. District Court, District of Oregon,
which will decide its merits.

NOAA’s
conclusion is clear: The plan is benefitting listed salmon now and will
continue to protect them well into the future. Highlights include:

$1.6
billion invested in new technologies at all eight federal dams and operational
changes is helping young salmon survive at very high rates and helping adults
return to their spawning grounds.

An
unprecedented and massive program that has restored more than 10,000 acres of
habitat in the Columbia Basin is already showing results.

“More
than one million Fall Chinook salmon returned to spawn last year, the highest
numbers since Bonneville Dam opened in 1938,” said Terry Flores, executive
director of Northwest RiverPartners. “And the plan has worked to bring sockeye
back from the brink of extinction.”

An
earlier version of the BiOp was sent back to the federal action agencies by U.S.
District Judge James Redden in 2011, who asked for more assurance that the
plans to restore habitat for 13 runs of ESA-listed salmon and steelhead would
deliver anticipated benefits. So the agencies (BPA, Army Corps of Engineers,
Bureau of Reclamation) reexamined the plan and the progress that has been made
over the last decade.

Despite
the salmon plan’s demonstrated progress, environmental and commercial fishing
groups are expected to continue to block the plan in court, as they have done
for nearly two decades.

“Lawsuits
are these groups’ bread and butter, and they will continue to sue – no matter
what the facts say,” Flores said. “They are bent on removing the federal dams,
no matter how well the salmon are doing, so it’s simply not in their interest
to acknowledge the tremendous progress being made.”

In
fact, the litigants continue to press for radical changes in dam operations,
including a ten-year “experiment” to dramatically increase “spill” through dams
that would violate state and federal water quality standards established to
protect salmon and other aquatic organisms and would significantly increase
energy costs for Northwest families and businesses.

“It
also would remove several hundred megawatts of clean renewable hydropower that
fuels our economy and protects our environment,” Flores said. “This radical
spill proposal makes no sense – until you understand that their ultimate goal
is to reduce the cost-effectiveness of the federal hydro system in order to
make the case for dam removal.”

With
the BiOp, the goal of the federal agencies is to protect the region’s iconic
fish. NOAA’s submittal of the salmon plan to the court starts a legal process
that could last up to a year. U.S. District Judge Michael Simon will set the
litigation schedule and hear the parties’ arguments before deciding on the
plan’s adequacy.

(PORTLAND, OR) -- Today, NOAA Fisheries released the latest
iteration of the Federal Columbia River Power System Biological Opinion (FCRPS
BiOp), the plan that manages the Columbia and Snake Rivers to protect 13 salmon
and steelhead populations listed under the Endangered Species Act.This plan continues to utilize the best
available science to protect Columbia Basin salmon and steelhead on a working
Columbia River power and navigation system.

“This updated salmon plan continues on the path of progress
seen over the past decade,” said Scott Corwin, Executive Director of the Public
Power Council, which represents consumer-owned electric utilities and their
ratepayers across the region who rely on the clean hydropower produced by this
system.

The updated BiOp meets the U.S. District Court’s requirement
that NOAA submit an amended plan that specifies additional habitat
actions. NOAA also found that the 2008
BiOp has yielded positive results.
Salmon passage rates at the dams is very high, more than 10,000 acres of
fish habitat is being enhanced and protected, and hundreds of miles of new
stream access is now available. The
fruits of these labors have led to the highest salmon returns in over 75 years.

“The region’s electric utility ratepayers are funding most
of this massive effort, so it is good to see that it is working effectively to
meet the fish survival goals,” said Scott Corwin, Executive Director of the
Public Power Council.

The Federal Columbia River Power System BiOp is the most
comprehensive and costly effort in the nation to protect ESA-listed species.

The Public Power
Council represents Pacific Northwest consumer-owned utilities on issues related
to the Federal Columbia River Power System.

(CHEHALIS, WA) -- Electricity
rates could be going up for Lewis County PUD customers. PUD is
proposing an increase that would see the monthly bill go up by about $6
for customers using 1,100 kilowatt hours a month. The proposed rate
increase is a result of Bonneville Power Administration’s increase in
wholesale rates to utilities in October 2013. If Lewis county PUD
approves the rate increase, it would begin March 1, 2014. PUD is
holding public hearings on January 28 in Chehalis and on February 4 in
Morton on the proposed rate increase.

About Me

Joel Myer works at an electrical utility in Washington State.
Prior to his current employment, he worked for nine years at the City of Shelton as Special Projects Coordinator.
In 1992, Joel served a three-month term as an appointed Mason County Commissioner. As far as it is known, he still holds the record for the shortest term for a county commissioner in Washington State.
From 1991 through 1992 Joel worked with Washington State University Cooperative Extension, where he conducted an extensive study of the special forest products industry and its economic value to the Pacific Northwest.
From 1980 to 1991 he was News Director at KMAS Radio in Shelton.
Joel is a 1991 graduate of the Evergreen State College, where his focus of study was economics.
Joel Myer is one of the 2018 award winners, Foundation for Water & Energy Education Haiku Contest.
He has been teaching himself to play the ukulele (with limited success) since 2003.